Gov. Rick Perry, state Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, and state Sen. Tommy Williams, R-The Woodlands, gathered in Austin Friday to sign into law a bill that requires drug screening to obtain certain state unemployment benefits.

Back in November, the three elected officials held a press conference at a small energy company in Cut and Shoot to announce their support for Senate Bill 21, legislation sponsored by Williams and Creighton that ties drug testing to unemployment and welfare benefits.

They didn’t get everything they wanted - the provision regarding drug testing for state welfare benefits didn’t make it through the 83rd Legislature. But it is a start, Creighton said.

“Texas is the economic and job creation engine of North America,” he said. “We want to make certain we have a people fully prepared to enter the workforce.”

State unemployment benefits are funded completely by employers. Laid-off workers survive on weekly payments of $62 to $440. Those fired for cause, including failing an employer-sponsored drug test, don’t qualify.

Perry, in his visit to Montgomery County last fall, had said the mandatory drug testing would be a “powerful” incentive.

“These benefits are not to be a way of life, merely put in place to be a bridge from the time someone loses a job until they get back on the payroll,” he said.

Creighton said the Small Business Administration determined employees with substance abuse issues cost employers an average of $7,000 annually.

The bill requires the Texas Workforce Commission to conduct a non-invasive drug screening questionnaire as part of an application for unemployment benefits. Should the questionnaire suggest drug use, the applicant must submit to testing.

If the person fails the test, they cannot receive benefits until the drug test is passed.